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The Paper DollsJulia Donaldson
The Paper Dolls
by Julia Donaldson
A string of paper dolls survives a dinosaur, a tiger and a crocodile, then meets a boy with scissors — and goes on living in a girl's memory instead.
A story about children and families, gentle and moving in tone. We would put it with children of 3–6, and at a reading age of about 5 for reading alone.
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Our take on this book
A little girl and her mother make a string of paper dolls, who go on gloriously imaginary adventures together — escaping a tiger, a crocodile, a dinosaur — until a boy with scissors snips them up, and the story turns, gently and unexpectedly, into something about memory and growing up. Julia Donaldson, working here with illustrator Rebecca Cobb rather than in her usual rhyming mode, creates something quieter and more tender than her famous romps: a book that begins as playful fun and ends by touching, very softly, on loss and the way we carry the past with us. There is a moment of upset when the dolls are cut, resolved with real warmth. For a three- to six-year-old it is a lovely, gentle read-aloud, and one that quietly moves many adults — a story about imagination, mothers and daughters, and how the things we love aren't really lost. A more reflective Donaldson, and a beautiful one.
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